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Thomas Paixf ew the Yellow
Trvrx.
Os the rouse cf the Yeifov) fever,
find t/r irr'inr r.{ f-rer-rntiiiit it
in +Wr* nr* *>f infetled with tt
addressed ty //p P.aard of
J. eaith o f Knr-I'nri.
(t crch d< and)
Cflorr's Hnrrrnrs !>nd Crh
Vrrr ;>* lhf.t liirv” rods of Gi-rorM
\vv Hrmton, nrr! fl-osc two rm
tVn-fn ?ud tu v-rlf p-nt into nnr
poiHPrt as !o t!'f mi***. T eir
OH'ojer vas, on dbturbing
the bottom of the riv< r ’•.otnc bi
tub inotts matter aroe to t! e snr
farp, w'ich tooV fin’ when the
lipbt ? ptit to it. I on ibe ron
-Irnrv, surpo.'-cr’ that a qtmntitv of
inflammable air was let ion*e,
xvMfh a*( rn-ferl through the wa
trrard took fire above fb* iur
frre. Faob partv hold to lis o
pirior, and the next evening the
experiment v a< fr be n ade.
’ rrw bad hem staiionrtl in
the mill-dam, and Grn Wast
in’ ‘on, Or, i irrnlo. Mid ir v - j
v<lf, ands believe Col. f'i !>, ('nr
llvrrphrie* wass rk) and 3or •}
soldiers with P*>!, wi re put r;n 1
board tho scow in Buttri-nx ~-* I
General Washington placed him- |
EfUnt one end of the >cow and I j
at fi-e other. lath if us had a ;
I'ofl of rarrdpe paper, which itr j
lighted atid hi Id over ti e water j
*h(mt two or three inches above !
the nurfarr, when tho soldier* U- I
jjan disturbing the boucm of the !
jiver wjlh the poles.
As Gen. Washington sat at one
ot and of the scow tm;l 1 at the otht r,
.1 conlii see betfer arty thing that
night, happen from hi. light than
I could from niy own, ot tr which
I was rtearlv perpendicular,
Winn the mud at the bottom was
disturbed bv the poles, the nir
hnbhle“ rose fast, and I saw the
flre take froo Gen. Washington's
: pbt. and and iccnd from thence to
t ie st rface ol the > adt r, in a san
rla-Tnas ners when a lighted can
dh* is held so as to touch tho
intake of a candle just blown out*,
~t e s ntoke will take (‘re and the
fire descend and light up the can
dle. Tins was demonstrative
evidence that what was called set
t t.g the river cv fire, whs seitmg
tb •” irfl nutblo airon ft. e that a
r. e ont of the mud.
-mentioned this experiment to \
Xnt. lllttcnhouse, of Philadel,
phis, the m xt time ( went to rhat
city, and our opinion on the case
was, that snv combustible matter
(vegetable or otherwise) that un
derwent a desolutioii and decom
position of its part*, either by fire
©r water, ir * cot fined place, bo
os rot to blase, that the air or va
prnr that issue cl from it would he
inflammable, ana would beceine.
fl. nic w henever it came into con
tact, vvi h flame.
In older to detmnine if this
was the ca'-e, we filled op the
breach of-a gut’ bairel about 5 ,r
6 inches, with s.iw dust, and the
upper part with dr\ sand to the
tup, & .after f piking up the touch
hole, put the breach into 11 ntnife’s
furnace, sr.d kept i: red bet, ?o j
as toconsumr tl e saw dust, the
sand of cc t si would pre
vent an\ b:; 7.e. We rpjlied a
lighted candle to the mouth of
the barrel, but as the ftr-t vapour
that flew oil would be humid, it
cstiiiguitln and the candle ; but af
ter applying the candle tlnecer
four time* the vapour tbut issu
ed out bt gan to flash. \S t- t'u n
tied a bladder over the mcutli of
the barrel, which the vapour toon
filled, and then lying a s-tru g a
round the neck of the bladder
sLove the tnuZzle,t9ok the hlad.
tier off.
As we could not conveniently
make expermentt upon the va
pour while it was in the bladder,
the next operation was o get it
into a phial. lor the purpose
wc to 1 k a phial of about three or
four ounce- filed it wthwatii,
put acotk slightly into it,&intta
ducir.g it into th neck of the
bladder, worked the c<r. out!)
geuiog hold oh: through ihe blad
tier. Jhe water then eti pticU
itself into the bladder, aim tire an
in li'c ol.'iddt r a-amdrO into the
phial. \V I: then put the cork in
on tlif phial, aud loot the phia
Horn the brainier. It was tiictun !
I 'a rcnvrnicnt ccndition for expe
riment.
yt> p,.r a li r btcd match mfr
lb> phial, and ‘! c air nr vapour
tw it tori’ firn and Maxed up in
,pa m*rrcr r s a cb-mnev 011 fitc.
tr-f, f vficgulsbcd it two or thr<*>
turner. 1-V rri rpil'er the month o<
tt e phial : and ru'tire the lighted
rra*cb to it parti), it repeated!’
t(. f ]- f re, ‘ill tie vapour “a*
frert. and the phial became filed
| with strut spheric air.
I These two experiments, that
! in wbtrh seme combustible sub
stance (branches nd leaves of
; tiffs') had hem decompound* and bv
: water in the mttd, and this,where
1 ti n derimposition had been pro
j ducetl bv f*rc without Ma/intr,
! sbetv that a species rf nir injuri
ous tolife when taken into the
I imps, mav be generated from
substances which in themselves
are hamdyj*.
Jt is bv means -imilnr to they
* charcoal!, vvhirh is H'adcl>y
ft re. tsithcu* Maying, emits av
pour des'ruc'ive *0 life. I now
er n e to apt lv the e rates, aivd
tbetp dedured therelorm. to ac
count for .the cause o( the vellow
ft < er
First, the vellow fever is not a
d?nfdpr produced bv the 1 dim ate
raturallv. or it would riot always
have been herein the Lot months.
The riimate is t> e same now as it
was fiftyor a hundred “years ago.
j Thcte was no vellov fever then,
! rnd it is on’y within ‘he last 12
[ vettrs that such a disorder has
1 been known in America.
Secortdlv. the low grounds on
the shores of the rivers at tlte ci
tv, w here the yellow fever is an
tiu.allv gcnera'rd and continues
there about three months witliout
sprrad’rg. were not subject to
that disotder, in their natural
state, o- the Indians would hare
forsaken them j whereas they
were the piTs 11 ot Irefjttt rued
b\- the Indian-, in a’l s r, ascns of
the r ear on account of fishery.
T'ne te-ult from these cases is,
that the yellow fever ;s introduc
ed >v some nerv circumstances
not natural to the country in its
natural state, and the question is,
what is that new circumstance ?
It may he said, that every thing
done hv the while p ople since
their settlem* nt of the country,
such as building towns, clearing
lards, levilliug hills and Riling up
rallies, isa new circumstance ;
hut the yellow-fuvcr docs not ac
company any of those neweircum -
stances. No alteration made on
the dry land produces the yellow
fever. We must therefore look
to seme other new circumstance,
and rve cc-me now to those that
have taken place between wet end
drv, between land and water.
The shores of the river a’ New-
York, and also at Philadelphia,
have oh account of the vast in
crease of commerce, and for the
sake of it-aki’ g wharves, under
gone great and rajixl alterations
from their natural states within n j
few years, and it ‘■ otilv in such ■
parts c.f the shores wh re those ;
alterations h ve t.-k*n place that j
the yellow fever is produced, j
The parts whera little or no ope- ,
ration have be. n made, either on ;
the east or noth livo', and w hich ;
continue i.i their natural stale, or
neatly so, do rot produce the yel
low fever. Tha fact therefore
.points to the cati.e.
Besides several new streets
gained from the river by embank- j
metu, there ara upwards of eighty
new wharves made since tile war,
and the much greater part within
the last t nor twelve year. ; the
consequence of which h.s been
that great quantities ot fifth or
combustible matter deposited in
thentuidy bottom of tie river
contigions to the shore, N which
produced no ill effect while ex
posed to the air and washed twice
tv.rv twen y-four hours bv the
tide water, have been covered o
vtr several feet deep with new
eartii ard fciiut upland ths tide
excluded. It is in these places, St
m these only, when; the yellow
;.-ver is produced.
Having thus shown from the
circumstances of the case, Uiat
the cause ot the \ ellow fever is in
the p.ace u here it is produced, or
atiier in the pernicious vapour
issuing tuct bit win; 1 £0 t* shew
•> met hr and of cmsfniciirg v.lawes
wheie wharves are yet tt be ron
rr 1 cud-, as on the shore of the
Fast river at < rriacT’s Hock, and
rji-o on ‘he Norllt river, that will
, r t gtrerate l he vellcw fever, &
hieh mav aIo point out a me •
thoc! for removing it from places
already infected with it. Instead
then, of iinbanking out the river,
and raising soiid wharvesaif earth
on the mud bottom of the shore,
the better method would be to
err struct wharves on arches
built of stone. ‘lhe ride will then
flow in tinder the arth. by which
’ means the shore and ihe muddy
bottom will he washed and kept
clean f>* if iltev wore in their na
tutaltate without wharves.
When wharves are constructed
on tire shore length-ways, that is
without cutting the shore up into
dips, arches can b? easily turned
because arches joining each other
lei gth-ways serve as hutments to
each o'ther ; but when ““rue shore
is cut into slips there can he no
butmems. In tins case wharves
can be formed on stone pillars,
cr on woadtupfi-’s piankrd over
on the top. fn cither of those
casestiie apace underneath will J
be a commodious shelter or har
bor for small boats, which can go
in aud come cut nUva\ s, except !
at l< vr water, and be secure from j
storms and injuries. This method
besides preventing the causes of j
lie yell, w fewr, which I think it !
will, will render the wharves |
more productive than the present
metn./d, because ot the space pre
served within the whaif.
I offer no calculation of the e x
pence of constructing wharves on
urcb-s or piles ,- but on a general
view I believe they will not be so
expensive as the present method.
Avery great part of the expence
of making -olid wharves of carlh
is occasioned by the carriage of
materials, which will he greatly
reduced bv the methods here pro
posed, and still more so wei e the ‘
arches to fee constructed of cast
iron (docks. I suppose that one
‘on of cast iron blocks will g 0 as
far in the construction of an arch
as twenty tens f. stone.
II by oortstructing wharves in
such a manner that the tide water
can wash die shore and bottom rtf
tile river contiguous to the shore,
:is they are washed in their natu
rat conditio ~ the yelh.w fever
can he prevented Irom gveerat
ing in places where wharves are
vet to be constructed, it may
point out a method of removing
it, at least hy degrees, from ida
ces already infected with it, which
will be by opening toe wharves in
two cr three in each wharf, and
letting the tide water pass
through. The parts opened can
be planked over without prevent
ing die use of tire wharf.
In taking up & treating on this
subject, I have consideied it a
beloiiging to natural piiilosophy
rather than to medical art.&there
fore I say nt thing about the treat
r/ient of disorder after it takes
place. I leave that part to those
whose profession it is to studv it.
ITKJM IS PAINS.
NEW YORK, July S.
Loss 9 1 thtsfoop I fart iu , Siimurl
Drigg.s, of Middleton, master j
and owner. — - Extract from
rapt. \)rigg‘s letter, dated N,
Providence, June 6. 180 t
C' ntv passage from Long.l--
land to NassiUjthe weather squal
iy, at Bin the evening took in
sail and hove the vessel to; he
iween 12 and 1 o’clock at nijht
sue siruck on a sunken rock a
boat six feet under water, w.ncii
instantly wint through her bot
tom—in ten m nutes she filled,
and in about ’ thirty Imr keel was
along side, ; nd her bottom out;
the sea breaking over she fell in
to deep water, the ocean water
very near, i- c got the boat for
ward aud remained on tha bow
the remainder of ihe night ; at
day light saw no land, hut disco
vered a rock about eight miles
cistant, the ebb tide running Irom
4t05 knots ; as soon as it slack
ed \ye got tbs boat over the bow ;
at tiffs time the vessel was near
parting, her sides coining off, fr.
her bottom entirely gout, we tlio't
best to leave the wreck ; we got
on tlte bow split and let wraeircs
down into tie Feat; the mate,
Mr. Jenesand one seaman, pre
j forced staying by the wreck, as
the wind was high and a heavy
sea, the boat shipping much wa
ter, one ha ltd continued bailing,
! we arrived safe on the rock, found
at half tide the water broke over,
so that we could not long pre
j serve our boat ; from this rock we
j saw some larger ones, and set
j off in hopes to find a safer place,
j and fresh water, as we did not
save n drop after the vessel
j siruck. After running all that
dav withont refreshment, excep*
; a few biscuit v/e had in our poc
j kls, and those soaked in salt wa
j ter, we arrived at anorher rock,
j went uoder the lee, haulsc’ our
boat on ; at sun set the weather
J cleared and we saw the wreck,
j Duriflg the night the water rose
j and beat owr the rock,so that we
! had much to do to save the boat :
in the morning could see nothing
es the wreck, the weather being
mere moderate we went in pur
suit of the wreck and men— sa-y
nothing of ihe wreck —as xve
were b-aring away for the land,
vw a man standing on the water
to appearance, which proved to
be the mate and sailor on a beam,
much bruised and almost exhaust
ed—we took them in and run be
j fore the wind ;at sun et we saw
the land, which proved to be the
| Blind of Klutlmra ,-in tnt mi ‘ He
l of the night r.’e found ourselves
j on a rook v coast and dismal sho r e
—-the wind blowing bn and a hea
vy sea, we found a small cove,
one lianj swam on shore,& found
a secure fending place for our
boat. We then went in pursuit
of water and a house, found nei
ther ; returned to our boat} at
dav light saw a house about a
mile distance ; went and got wa
ter and refreshment ; found our
selves about JO miles from Quay
settlement, and cti from Cove
Harbour ; set off for the Cove ;
found a small seli’r. which took
us in, and we arrived here the
21st May; since which I have
been very ill, owing to fatigue,
bruises, Btc I had no dry clothes
fl-om the tune the vessel struck,
until we arrived at Eiutfiuria ;
nor a drop of fresh water to Ji ink
from me time we hove to. Sup
pose the vessrl must have drifted
20 miles before ir struck.
This rock h is not been known
bv any person th it I have seen.
Extract o r a letter from a gentle
man in St. Louis, to his friend
in Louisville , -n- ) dated.
Mt-u 27.
“ The people of this place arc
much alarmed at the hostile pro
ceedings of the Indians since the
following is -p-jeUnen ofSoifie of
their la'e conduct. A few days
since some ICicksrroo Indians
came here and drank rather too
much whiskey—--one of them
went through the town and tlireu.
tene I to kill several woman and
children, and at length attacked -
judge AieigsSc struck at his he id 1
wi ll a rouvnahawk, which wa->
turned off hy Ins hat, .Meigs seiz
ed th; Indian by the hand aud
drew his knife half oat the scab
bard— a: this moment a young
mm by tha tuns ct tlaih n>a i,
drew a pistol and shot the I idun
through the hick ; but he did 11 :
appear to mind it much, and was
apparently inure resolui*and am
bitious to kill Col deig-;. Ham
mond raw this and drew his dirk
and stabbed ihe Indian twice ; he
run about two hundred yards and
toll dead. This circumstance has
cau.cd great disturbance a aong
the Indiana. .Mr. Ham mood
will have to stand ills trial; but.
the opinion is, that he was vcit
justifiable in killing tile Indian.—
Four or five indian prisoners are
in jail lorkiil-ng while people.,’
PINCKNEY VILLE May 19.
Tornado. Yesterday there
pas.ed thro’ this place a violent
tornado, which ha* nearly de
stroyed the village.’ a heavy
rain had fallen ua tnc e
vening of Tuesday, and the
morning of Wednesday was
cloudy. About a quarter before
seven o’clock, the hrniaincut be.
came much darkened, and in a
lev minutes the awful •> pr
01 this qrhifl triad w ...
, by the falling tiros in the vh
I tv. The general course of
loitiado was from ihe S. \V. 1{
N. E. and its duration abo a
minute, accompanied with Si
hail, and a torrent of rain, tj le
lowing statement comprise,
Damage—commencing at t | l{
W. end of the village—-Mr. (
tis’s blacksmith shop unrs t j
and nearly blown down;
Curtis and a journeyman 80u
and found shelter in a neighi*
ing cluster of woods, by lyii r
on the earth- the dwelling,jj.
o f Mr. J. Horton unroofed;
top of die kitchen blown aw
and several hundred feet of p
ing torn ,* Mr. Horton, his
ami children, were in bed in
dwelling house, and several >
rants were in the kitchen
small frame storehouse belon®
to Mr. Mace, in which his cie
Mr. iborrow, was in bed,
blown down sixteen feet into
sheet. A large building of Ci
Randolph’s occupied by Mej.
Folks, and who were in at
time, was unroofed. The ro
ot the meeting house was cru
ed in, and the body of the hou
irith its contents, raised froan
blocks and cariied one liuivJi
ai.d seventeen feet, in a eours.-
Nor h, 5 4 degrees West. A n
Ircav) l<>g building, 22 by 13 k
belonging to’rq ure Dawson,,
levelled, and not a vestag; seal
ing but ihe cifnrmyy ; at tiie lii
of *ts tumbling, Thomas Li l
his wile, an>J three children, w
had moved in o the house buti
day before, were in one corner
it. A large log building heloi
ing to Mr. Samuel Perry bic
down, and a considerable par:
the leucc carried away ; in 1
house v.as a woman and o ne Hu!
A log building occupied bv \V
liarn Dawson as a sail er's sir
blowd down. Capt. Kan,lain
building, occupied by Mr.
Ktmer as, a tavern ; a stable,a
some small buil*ling3 > were i
roofed ; in this house was IMc-i
Kemp- ,-s, and six other perse
One side of the dwelling of A
Lyons was uncovered, and
corn house and his fences bio
down—l2t)o feet of now cypr
paling from around Captain H
dolph's lots blown tic wit ; i
two britk chimnies from
dwelling, to the hip3 ; a small 1
vert way between his warchoi
and storo crushed in, and t
warehouse whicli was large *
contained a quantity of hea
goods, moved‘live inches 0.1 t
blocki. A pigeon house und
pinned with brick, and one ot
s nail building, blown down.—
small Iog A stable belonging
Doctor Backus, unroofed; a
two old buildings belonging
J nhn VV al I, esq. we re bio wr ;3 o<
and the building of John Sin
son was unroofed.
Fortunately no lives were !.
and with the exception of Ti
masLiHev’s wife, and Mfr.. Si
son, who was in Mr. l'err
house no one was hurt, these i
a ightl -.: How it could Ij’ppi
that in this genera! wreck of in
trrso little personal injury
sustained, is cause of asto.-.i:
raent, and to be attributed only
divine providence.
The place lor a few hours lo<
ed glootnv, but sumo of ti,. - 1
mane planteis oi the neighboi
hood, having sent in some of th
negroes anil a few houses tii
were sU'Ceptible of temporary 1
pair.--, have undergone th-’
which has afforded * she.ter
the distressed citizens dui yr.,, t
continued rains that have eia
taken.
We have been informed ti
con-ideraolo damage iui3 bi
done bv the Tornado on the It
oil tiie Bayon I’icre, aud oil
parts of ihe Territory ; also to
a number oi ooats have been la
Wants a Situation.
A PERSON who lias been n
ny years on a Coiton PH
idtiou m tae West Indies, and
well acquainted with the is
nagement of Negroes ; wisi
to obtain the management’ of
Cotton Plamation in thi. state,
Kuril 1 ire at tills offiv-
Jui; di. _ Stiff